All posts tagged USA Hockey

The Massachusetts hockey team played their final game of 2015 on Friday night in an exhibition game against the US Junior National Team, falling by a score of 4-0. The game was the conclusion of Team USA’s evaluation camp ahead of their trip to Finland to compete in the World Junior Championships. I think there are positives and concerns to take away from the exhibition loss and probably highlights the team’s most glaring area of improvement heading into the second half; offense.

It may be July but Coach Micheletto and his staff are still on the road trying to improve the fortunes of the Massachusetts hockey team. They’re doing so not just for future years, but this coming year as well. UMass picked up a commitment from 6’2”, 185lb defenseman Callum Fryer for this fall. The news was first reported by Over The Boards:

With the odd schedules as of late, it’s been a while since our last recruit update so time to get caught up on the future Minutemen.

Ben Gallacher – D – Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) – 2013 (transfer)13 GP / 2 G / 4 A / 6 Pts / 30 PIM / +5
Gallacher has had three assists in his last six games but what’s encouraging is that he did not take any penalties in that time.

Mark Hamilton – D – Salisbury School Crimson Knights (NE Prep) – 20130 GP / 0 G / 0 A / 0 Pts
Due for an update on the prep recruits. I believe Hamilton is playing for the Knights currently after missing a few weeks with injury.

Mike Iovanna – RW/C – Malden Catholic Lancers (MA High School) – 2013
6 GP / 2 G /4 A / 6 Pts
Iovanna is playing as I write this and as of now already has four points. Last week he played well as MC played top ranked BC High, picking up two assists. Richie Murray, a UMass alum covering the game for the Herald, passed along to FTT that Iovanna has a lot of good puck skill and looked good on the PK, but still needs to put on some weight before getting to Amherst. Iovanna’s recent 100th point milestone was mentioned by the Herald’s Jim Clark.

Dennis Kravchenko – LW – Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) – 2013 or 2014
29 GP / 13 / 16 A / 29 Pts / 74 PIM / +9
Kravchenko had a goal and and three assists during the last couple weekends. He’s currently 17th in the USHL in total points and 19th in scoring.

Patrick Lee – LW – Brooks Bandits (AJHL) – 201437 GP / 16 G / 18 A / 34 Pts / 18 PIM
Lee went scoreless in his last three games but amazingly the Bandits are 36-1-1 on the season.

Frank Vatrano– LW/C – Junior Bruins (EJHL) – 2013
18 GP / 13 G / 9 A / 22 Pts / 22 PIM
Vatrano has not played with the Junior Bruins in a while. I almost wonder if he’s now enrolled at UMass. Will work to confirm.

▲

Branden Gracel had a hell of a week last week, being named Ledyard Classic MVP, Hockey East Player of the Week, and Hockey East Player of the Month. All of that helped him gain honors as runner-up for National Player of the Month.

Don’t forget that this weekend’s games got switched on the schedule so now the team plays at home on Friday and in Providence on Saturday, thanks to some sort of a conflict with Women’s Basketball. I assume the change was made so the pep band that plays before dozens of people at women’s basketball can make it on Friday to support hockey and the thousands of fans there, right? RIGHT?!!?!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the tremendous win by USA Hockey over Sweden to gain goal in the IIHF World Junior Championships. In the last decade since I took a significant interest in the USA hockey program and how players develop through the ranks, Team USA has made huge strides. To get to the point where they’re now regularly seen as having the best players in the world under the age of 20 is miraculous. Congratulations to all the players on Team USA, but a little extra congrats to those guys like Rocco Grimaldi, Johnny Gaudreau, Jacob Trouba, Jake McCabe and many others who have chosen to hone their skills in the NCAA.

The UConn hockey program will not be led into Hockey East by the coach who has guided them for the last 25 years as Bruce Marshall has resigned after missing most of the season due to health issues. It’ll be interesting to watch who the Huskies tap to take their program to the next level.

Search Fear The Triangle Archives

Contact Fear The Triangle

Suggestions? Questions? Care to share which Hockey East ref you hate to see take the ice? Have any beer suggestions? Feel free to email me.

If you want to add your two cents about a specific topic discussed don't hesitate to use the comment function.

Support FTT

Fear The Triangle will always be free. But there is some investment associated with providing first-hand coverage of UMass hockey. Specifically, domain hosting, travel, game streams, and ticket costs all add up. Not to mention the hours spent every day reading and writing about UMass hockey. I'll continue to do this for the foreseeable future even if it runs me into financial ruin (it won't, I think) and my wife divorces me (hopefully just as unlikely). But if you enjoy what you read here and want to show your support, here is a link to contribute to FTT via PayPal.

Legal Verbage.

Fear The Triangle is not affiliated with the University of Massachusetts, the UMass Hockey program or any other organizations having to do with UMass (or organizations having to do with triangles for that matter). What you read here is purely the opinion of the owner and frankly his mental state has always been suspect.